I found a little strange that in a world where marketing is the key to survive for many brands and products, the airlines have so few "partners" taking advantage of having a big and shiny airplane flying their brand around the world.
Is true that there are some examples ( from the top of my head I can remember the EVA Air Hello Kitty's A330, some football teams and their sponsors, Etihad and the F1 340, the AS 737's with Disney, the ANA planes with their cartoons, but that's all )... but I think this practice should be much more extended, I think the people really likes to see ( and fly ) those colorful planes instead of the usual boring white tube, and everybody wins ( the airline, the brand, and the public ).

Oh and other thing, I don't know if this is just my perception, but it seems that the Japanese and Asian carriers are more prone to this practice ?

Am I alone in this or some of you have the same feeling ?? Any explanation besides the time and money needed for re-painting the planes?

Quoting PacNWJet (Reply 1):At the defunct Western Pacific this was standard practice. A few examples:

Nice collection !!! Thanks for posting.

Quoting cipango (Reply 3):FR had quite a few including Vodafone and Cable and Wireless.

As far as I know, advertising on planes is very costly and for the cost, it doesn't exactly have the best return and you can't guarantee a numerical audience.

I think that you can be 100% right in the case of FR, because they use ( in many if not all the routes ) secondary airports with less people around, but think in my example of EVA and Hello Kitty...the painting doesn't seem to be that expensive ( no need to paint all the plane obviously ), and you have your plane parked and taxiing along the biggest airports like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Japan, LAX....millions of people can see your brand in a year, and even better, they will probably talk and comment about it ( seeing a Hello Kitty or a giant battery in the fuselage of a 777 is not the same as seeing in the regular TV spot or the other usual places ).

Air NZ has done olympic versions on a 737-300
Had an A320 in a theme park version ( operated by its owned freedom air )
Presently got rugby ones 777 2 A320 and 1900d
Had large lord of the rings themed ones also .

I think the title is a bit misleading as Co-Branding implies two airlines (most likely in a Joint Venture) on one aircraft, but the OP is referring to 'logo jet'/'flying billboards.'

I'm going to assume that it's not only the cost but the rise of internet marketing these days. Having a jet especially painted for a campaign that may last a few weeks or months costs significantly more than promoting a business online where you can reach an almost global audience (there are some restrictions in terms of language, countries with restricted internet usage, etc). I feel like there is a lot of hype when they first arrive (some positive, some negative - I recall the uproar over the Sports Illustrated logo jet for WN a few years back)

While it is nice to see the change of livery for some carriers, some can be downright garish. Lots of LCCs use them as a form of ancillary revenue not only externally but internally, which may be on the rise in a few years. Although I notice the ads start slowly, first with clips on the Video entertainment (if any) or via on-board annoucenments and then on tray tables etc. Some of the planes aren't too bad but pretty soon they might turn into flying buses.

Quoting Gonzalo (Thread starter):Oh and other thing, I don't know if this is just my perception, but it seems that the Japanese and Asian carriers are more prone to this practice ?

Am I alone in this or some of you have the same feeling ?? Any explanation besides the time and money needed for re-painting the planes?

Japanese carriers have been particularly keen I think. JAL has had full liveries of Tokyo Disney Resort and ANA with Snoopy and Pokemon jets respectively. I've also seen small decals for various bands. IMO I feel the Japanese air carriers also make themselves known by promoting themselves in non-airline industries such as allowing popular dramas to film their facilities or JAL even selling food products. But again its a different market and most of their livery jets were used on domestic routes.

I totally forgot about that one! If my memory serves me correctly, I do recall seeing the D10 in Los Angeles!!! I also remember the days of Continental Micronesia D10's in EWR, but maybe that was for maintenance?

By the way, thank you for your service at Continental Airlines. I was a "member" of the Continental Airlines Young Travelers Club and also a OnePass member since 1992. My heart breaks each day when I see the Continental titles slowly disappear.

Quoting Gonzalo (Thread starter):Any explanation besides the time and money needed for re-painting the planes?

I think it's the combination of the very high cost and the niche market; take all brands that market. Now remove all those that don't want their brand on an airplane for any reason, and further remove those for whom an airplane hits either the wrong locations or the wrong countries. That kills off a lot of advertising right there.

Now, for what's left, find those that are willing to pay the *extremely* high cost to design, execute, and maintain a custom airplane livery. Compare that to how much conventional and comparable advertising you could purchase for the same money (billboards, trucks, buses, airport signage, etc.).

The pool gets pretty small; it makes sense for some, which is why you see it, but I doubt it's ever going to be really widespread without a cost change.

I think people over estimate what it costs to advertise on a plane, Alot of TV space at certain times could get cost you hundreds of thousands if not millions.. a plane advertisement nowhere near that. I think the reality is not many find a plane as a flying billboard useful to target their audience.

I did like the Ryanair logojets because the whole planes carried the themes as opposed to when the likes of EVA air do it and its just some out of place little cartoon, Looks kind of unfinished to me.

Jetstar Australia once operated a 717 with a rental car on the entire side of each plane, advertising for 'Thrifty' and 'Budget' car rental. Virgin Blue (as it was then) also painted a 737 black with Gillette markings. However, this was at least 5 years ago, so it obviously didn't work financially for either of them